Economy

After a political transition that threatened business confidence and investment projects, Peru’s economic outlook has improved considerably. As one of South America’s top performers due to its structural reforms and fiscal discipline, Peru is seeing an economic rebound due to rising commodity prices and its export-oriented mining sector. The Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas, MEF) projects that GDP growth will accelerate from 2.5% in 2017 to 3.6% in 2018, bolstered by a 17.5% and 4.5% increase in public and private investment, respectively. The longer-term outlook is yet more optimistic, with forecasts for higher average growth and domestic demand over the 2018-21 period. The MEF forecast greater private investment will support fiscal consolidation efforts from 2019, reactivating the virtuous cycle of investment, employment and consumption. This chapter contains interviews with Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Bank of Development; Alberto Ñecco, Executive Director, ProInversión; and Roque Benavides, President, National Convention of Private Business Institutions.